Michael Porter Jr. Expected to Miss Rest of Season
Nuggets F Michael Porter Jr., will undergo a surgical procedure on his lower back and miss an indefinite period, his agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Bartelstein says Porter?s expected to make a full recovery; timetable on return will come after surgery.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 29, 2021
What an absolutely brutal blow for the Nuggets. They were already going to be without Jamal Murray for most of the year while rehabbing from a torn ACL, and now they are preparing to be without Porter for the rest of the year. He was shut down with a back injury earlier this month, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Porter will undergo back surgery that will sideline him indefinitely.
Of course, back issues are nothing new for Porter. He was considered one of the top high school players in the country, but he missed most of his only college season due to a back injury. That caused him to slip to the 14th pick of the 2018 NBA Draft despite having the talent to go much earlier.
The timing could not be worse for the Nuggets, who just inked Porter to a max deal during the offseason. He’s on the books for the next five years at approximately $172.5M, and his future is now in jeopardy. If he’s not the same player following another back surgery, it will be a significant blow for the Nuggets’ future.
The Nuggets are currently listed at +2400 to win the NBA Finals on FanDuel Sportsbook.
